Well, it's summer
by sarakirai
Summary: With summer comes festivals, and with festivals come romance. Seo and Wakamatsu know that. (based on anime ending where all our main couples are horsing around at the matsuri)


Ever since the day of the disastrous chat he had with Seo-senpai on the rooftop, Wakamatsu's often wondered where exactly he went wrong. Because instead of getting Seo to leave him alone, the result was that she started bothering him more than ever. Of course that needles him, but pricks at him the most is the realisation that surfaced only recently: he really doesn't mind.

Maybe it really is as Nozaki says – that he is an idiot for always referring to shoujo manga for guidance. I mean, just look where it's landed him so far. What's more, if it had been someone other than Seo-senpai who'd received a challenge letter masquerading as a love letter, Wakamatsu has no doubt that he would have been beaten into a bloody pulp and left to die in a random ditch for being gross and trying to besmirch another guy's reputation. Knowing his luck, she'd probably be the one to find him and haul his sorry ass home. _Sigh_.

But hey, it was something Nozaki said, too, that's got him thinking this way. They're at the matsuri, enjoying their yakisoba and people-watching when Nozaki spots Seo and he deadpans "…the woman running towards us…is going to make your life miserable."

Immediately Waka shoots to his feet, balance and smile unsteady as he forces out a shaky _k-k-konbanwa_ for her. The very picture of abject misery, that's what he is. On the inside, though, he's a little happy that she's so excited to see him (and even though senpai is a horrible KY, he supposes he should be glad she can say honestly that she's excited to see him). Sure, she's making his life miserable, but it isn't being done _entirely_ purposefully; maybe that's the way she shows how fond of her kouhai she is, maybe bullying him like this is the greatest extent to which her _romantic_ side will reach. He shudders. _Don't be so morbid_, he chastises himself.

Maybe he should ask, but he can't very well ask outright _senpai, do you like me _because the answer he'll get will likely make him want to bury his head in the ground.

Sometime later they end up on the school grounds, and Seo springs up onto one of those towering winged horse statues like it's nothing. How can she do that? Strike jaunty poses in such a precarious position with no regard for her personal safety? He's definitely more worried than she is, and it shows on his face because she leans down and asks him to lighten up.

Wakamatsu blushes and stammers profusely _(god dammit so embarrassing),_ before gathering all his courage to force out the first thing that comes to mind when he thinks of _Questions I Have For Seo-senpai,_ including but not limited to _"was that hot guy just now your boyfriend"._

It's hastily blurted, and he has to repeat it, in mortifying slowness.

_Ne, Seo-senpai. Can you sing?_

The look she gives him is part amusement, part cockiness, part pity. He doesn't quite know how to interpret that, so another question is in order.

_Senpai, say something! D-don't just look at me like that. What's that look even mean?_

Fondness permeates her expression all of a sudden; he unconsciously softens too. Waka exasperatedly smiles up at his silly, precious senpai.

**xxx**

Waka, you sneaky little bastard.

Seo isn't usually one to be caught in dilemmas (hard to happen when you have practically no morals), but she is in one now, and it is entirely his fault. To tell him or not to tell him? He can't stand the way she heckles him, everyone says that. Yet she's seen the way he gets when he's busy gushing about how awesome Lorelei is, and as dumb as the admission is, she has to say that she feels ridiculously happy when he does. Geez, who doesn't like to be praised?

Hypothetically speaking, it would be for the best if he came to know that she was Lorelei, and then the two of them could have a disgustingly emotional heart-to-heart talk and become lovers. Well, that's how it always works in manga – but in real life, Seo thinks, some secrets are meant to be kept. For a while longer, at least.

The tone in which Waka asks gives her pause, too. That _"can you sing?" _totally sounded like he thought he knew her singing sucked, but was hoping that it wouldn't be the case. It must be his lucky day, then, because that assumption couldn't be further from the truth. Maybe she ought to drop hints, but how? Dammit.

_Oi, of course I can sing. I'm Lorelei, you know._

Nope, he won't take her word for it. Ugh. Oh. He's talking again, still waiting for her response. Why is he so cute? He looks pretty cute from up here. Oh, what the hell. Seo opens her mouth.

**xxx**

"Waka. Gimme a hand down, will ya?"

Her voice incisively cuts through the night air, shakes him from his reverie. He looks up and meets her expectant gaze, wondering what he should do next. Offer a hand? Swing her down by the waist? Say "jump and I'll catch you"?

It's that last one that leaves his mouth, and he doesn't have any time to regret it before Seo flings herself from the horse statue's saddle and crash lands on his shoulders. Waka doubles over, clutching his back, and then Seo says blithely that _of course she can sing, but she isn't going to let him hear it unless he catches her_. The tone in which she says it gives him pause. That totally sounded like Seo-senpai thought her singing was halfway decent (which imbues him with a soft glow of hope, too).

Wakamatsu shrugs Seo off his back and sits her down on the grass next to him for a moment while he recovers (both his back and his composure)(lol) before turning to her with a determined set to his jaw. Seo quirks an eyebrow. "Okay," Waka says. "If I can catch you, I get to hear senpai sing, right?" She nods and springs up immediately, indiscriminately grabbing onto his shirt sleeve and hauling him up, before sprinting off. It really isn't fair, he thinks. Running in uniform is difficult, and he's tired after a long day at school, and he just ate so he really shouldn't be running. But he takes off anyway, following Seo's upbeat trail into the night.

The two of them come pretty close to being a public nuisance that night, tearing through the crowds of festival-goers, sidestepping little children with candy apples and assorted couples who mill closely between the stalls on either side of the street. They bump into so many people that Wakamatsu stops counting, and eventually stops saying sorry (he ran out of breath). Eventually Seo decides to give up on taunting him and let them have a breather, so she heads for a quieter spot – the top of a building where they can look down on the festival streets, lean on the railing to catch their breath.

Wakamatsu sighs, body sagging heavily against the metal bars. "Are you really going to sing for me now?" he dares to venture, sneaking a peek at her from the corner of his eyes. To his surprise, Seo is staring at him with slightly narrowed eyes, examining his profile in minute detail as if some feature of his will make it worth her while to sing. Waka holds his breath and then thinly exhales as he tries not to move under his senpai's gaze – they stay completely still until Seo turns away to look out over the night and starts to sing, very softly under her breath, the first verse of _Natsu Nandesu (Well, it's Summer)_

"_Inaka no shiroi aze michi de_

_Hokorippoi kaze ga tachi tomaru…"_

Wakamatsu snaps upright as the words of the simple folk song fill his ears. Very strangely, he feels both horribly sleepy and horribly awake, and he blinks slowly as he tries to reorganise his jumbled thoughts. Only Lorelei's voice could ever make him sleepy within three seconds, but if Seo-senpai really is Lorelei then there is _no way_ he's going to fall asleep now, not in this moment. He grinds the base of his palms into his eye sockets to keep his lids up as the girl next to him sings "…gingingiragira no/ natsu nandesu…"

Damn right, it's summer. It is summer and he's at a festival, alone, with a member of the opposite sex, waiting to watch the fireworks together. And we all know what that means. _Oh my god, this is a date. A date with Seo-senpai. A date with Lorelei. But wait, what about that hot guy earlier? Huh? Ah, he's over there with Hori-senpai…_

Seo elbows Waka in the stomach and asks, "Happy now?"

"Yeah," he nudges her back, but much more gently. "Let's just watch the fireworks."

**xxx**

Nozaki writes a new manga arc on the side characters of Let's Fall in Love. It's a smash hit throughout the country.

**xxx**

**A/N:** formatting is soooooooooo much better on AO3 seriously go read it there instead uwu (more notes there as well!)


End file.
